Black Scab
by tofu-melon
Summary: /LucciLu, CP9!Luffy/ Having been raised by his grandfather since a young age, Luffy grows up powerful and intelligent enough to become part of the CP9... more precisely, he becomes their Chief Director.
1. Chapter 1

This one has CP9!Luffy. Because I'm totally in love with Lucci.

Note: Luffy is admittedly OOC in this fic, but I don't know how I would've written this otherwise. Someone else might've done a better job than me.

_**IMPORTANT!**_ **In order to understand this fic, please note that each break line means a switch from present to past and vice versa. You'll probably understand just by reading, but I won't be indicating which one is which. Because they're both very much part of the story.**

* * *

**Black Scab**

**Chapter 1**

It had been seven years since Luffy was first introduced to the world he lived in now.

And with seven years under his belt, Luffy was now thoroughly sick and tired of his job.

He never had much freedom under his grandfather's hand, but with the constant desk-work he was doing now, it made his grandfather's training feel like a great game of kickball. Here, Luffy rarely left his office, too busy writing his reports and notes. He read so much fine print that his eyes had gone bad, and he could no longer read without a pair of glasses on his nose. Even now he held his fountain pen against a piece of parchment paper, mindlessly writing down words.

He was tired of being unfeeling.

"Chapapa—!"

Luffy, alerted by the familiar call and the sound of the opening door, looked up and paused in his writing. Stepping into the room with a light skip in his step was Fukurou, his zipper-mouth unzipped and wide-open with a hint of a smile to it.

"Fukurou. You've returned."

"The mission was a great success as always, chapapa—!" the CP9 member sang as he walked over to Luffy's desk and stopped a few feet away from the younger man. Setting his feet firmly into the ground, Fukurou touched his fingertips together and closed his eyes while relaxing his shoulders, and he waited.

Luffy stretched his arms out above his head and stood up, groaning lightly as his legs and arms were not used to straightening out. "Is that so?" he asked, stepping around his desk and kicking off his loose slippers, leaving him barefooted.

"Jyabura has the report, but he's too busy stalking that kitchen girl."

"Gatherine?" Luffy asked, pausing beside his desk thoughtfully. After a moment of silent consideration, a light smile broke out across his young face and Luffy laughed, "Shishishi. She's too good for him."

Then, without a word of warning or otherwise, Luffy dashed forward, blurring as he crossed the distance between himself and Fukurou. Within the short span of a second, Luffy cocked his arm back, hands clenched into a tight fist, and in that same second, let loose a punch that made a snapping noise against the wind, speeding like a bullet from a gun right into the other's face.

Fukurou gave a strangled grunt as he was sent back flying a few feet before he landed on his back with a heavy sound.

"Hmm..." the loud-mouthed man said to himself as he flipped upright onto his feet nimbly. Meanwhile, Luffy dusted himself off and turned back to his desk, sitting down in his chair and picking up his discarded pen before he resumed writing.

"_Rokushiki Ryuugi: Te-aswase_!" Fukurou called out then looked amazed as realization dawned upon him. "It's incredible," he breathed, his open eyes setting on Luffy's slender form. "For a person who sits behind a desk all day you're disturbingly strong! You've conquered Lucci's douriki from five years ago! 2800 douriki!"

Luffy laughed, pleased with the number. He had been afraid that doing nothing but just sitting and writing reports might have rotted his muscles into nothing. "How rude, saying that's it's 'disturbing'."

Fukurou didn't say anything about Luffy's offhand comment as he sat down on the couch before Luffy's desk and leaned back into the leather. "It's strange," he started with a curious frown, "that you aren't a member of the Cipher Pol 9 yourself even though you're stronger than us all."

"Oh, but I am," Luffy responded with a secretive smile, elegantly crossing his legs under his desk and resting his chin on top of his intertwined fingers.

"I am your Chief Director after all."

* * *

Anyone who knew Luffy as a child would know him as an energetic, impatient little boy with a wide smile and warm heart, willing to befriend anyone he came across and tell them of his great dream:

To become Pirate King.

That had been Luffy from ten years ago in Fuchsia Island, before he was taken away by Garp, who was angry at the scum of the sea, Shanks, who dared to corrupt his grandson's mind with nonsense. Luffy trained under his grandfather's unrelenting and strict guidance. Garp had gone to all lengths to kill the "pirate" inside of Luffy.

With three years worth of books and simple surviving, Luffy slowly felt something inside him fade away. The people he met and talked to would smile at him, but their teeth-bared grins were cold and leering. And then, Luffy realized he smiled the same as they did, insincere and forced, so he stopped smiling all together.

Luffy often found himself wandering the deck of his grandfather's ship, poised and regal, with a graceful step in his walk, being feared and respected by the guarding soldiers he passed by without so much as a glance.

He may have been ten, but his aura was so much more.

Garp had attempted to convince Luffy to join the Marines officially, but Luffy refused to budge on this matter. He may no longer care about becoming Pirate King, but he still couldn't accept the Marines. He refused to.

And so, Garp took the matter up with an old friend.

Sengoku hated seeing Garp more than he had to, and he hated doing favors for him even more. But then the man brought his grandson to him (a small, wide-eyed thing with a young face) with a stern frown and a firm grip on the young boy's narrow shoulder.

"Give this idiot something to do. He's wasting good talent and energy by just lazing around at my place."

Sengoku sighed and rubbed at his temple. He tried to ignore the silent boy's steady stare, but it was beginning to unnerve him. "So you're dumping your problems onto me. How typical of you, Garp."

The aged Marine Vice-Admiral grinned roguishly and laid a hand upon Luffy's head, musing his dark hair. "Don't be like that, Sengoku," he said lightly. "Despite his looks, Luffy's plenty smart and he's strong too. Tell him how strong you are, Luffy."

The boy rolled his eyes, an act that looked off on his childish face. "My punch," he sighed, "is as powerful as a pistol."

Garp slapped his knee, bending over with an arm wrapped around his stomach as he laughed himself to tears. Sengoku and Luffy watched this display with similar expressions of distaste. They waited silently for the Vice-Admiral to regain himself, still chuckling while muttering "Pistol... pistol, he says," under his breath.

Sengoku let out a heavy breath and fell into his seat, gently petting the top of his goat's head. "Garp, if this is your idea of a joke, I am not amused."

"It's not," Garp said, still smiling. He dug around in his coat pocket for a bit before pulling out a thick manila folder and handing it to the Fleet Admiral who took it with a curious frown.

The papers inside were test scores and written essays as well as reports from famous scholars and instructors from all over the world. Each one of these papers had the same name written on top in bold, messy letters: "Monkey D. Luffy".

"... Garp. What is this?"

The other man's grin grew at the corners, looking almost menacing now. The dark-haired boy at his side was looking at the ground with a bored expression, obviously wanting to be anywhere but here at the moment. "What does it look like, Sengoku?"

It was exactly as it looked. Every full mark, every essay, and every positive review showed Sengoku just what kind of boy Luffy truly was underneath his dull eyes and pouting mouth. They were good things to be sure, but it made Sengoku wary.

"What do you want?"

Garp grinned, glad to know the other man was finally getting on with the program. They were both old enough as it was, Garp didn't want to wait for longer than he had to. "I already told you what I want. Give my idiot grandson something to do. He's not normally very bright, but he'll get things quick if he puts his mind to it."

It smelled like a trap to Sengoku. Perhaps he spent too much time around pirates, but currently the boy next to Garp smelled just like sea scum. It made Sengoku cringe. "Are you willing to let your grandson abandon all ties on humanity and serve justice the way we see it?"

Luffy's face grew dark but Garp's expression became thoughtful. "Only if you can make him."

And Sengoku eyed Luffy. The boy looked up and met his gaze head-on with his equally determined look. Garp said that the boy was strong, but Sengoku didn't see it. Luffy had a small stature, skinny arms and legs with a thin neck and slender shoulders. He was still ten and growing, but even now Sengoku could see that Luffy would never grow to be like his grandfather in physical appearance.

"I might know of a job that might interest your grandson. Take it or leave it. What will you do, Luffy-kun?"

And Luffy did not turn his eyes away, a small spark of determination brightening his dark gaze.

"... _take it_."

* * *

"Chief Monkey D. Luffy. Your mission deadline of obtaining Pluton's blueprints is coming close. What are your reports?"

Luffy cursed. The damn government officials had been hovering over him for the past two years like vultures with a near-dead beast, ready to strike. "My men have been tracking Water 7's mayor Iceburg for five years now. We've infiltrated the city from the center. It should be done in no time—"

"Chief," the government official on the other line said in a flat tone, obviously unimpressed, "That is what you've said to me the last time I called in. I want _results_."

Luffy pulled his hands into a fist, his nails digging into his palm painfully in order to wave off the anger that was beginning to cloud his good judgment. "Of course..." He _hated_ this sense of helplessness.

"This year, Chief. We can't afford to dilly-dally along anymore. The name of justice requires this."

"Yes. I shall inform my men immediately."

An approving grunt sounded on the other line and the other man gruffed out, "See that you do." And he hung up, leaving Luffy with a dial-tone that made his blood boil.

"Damn bags," he growled, slamming the receiver down and seething by himself. "Always interfering... it pisses me off."

Luffy grabbed his coat, ready to leave, but he jumped in surprise as the den-den mushi on his desk rang again. The dark-haired chief grimaced, hoping it wasn't those old fuddy-duddies. He picked up the receiver and held it close to his face. "Hello?" he called into it.

The snail's eyes opened halfway and its body relaxed into a pile of den-den mushi goo. "Good afternoon, Garp's grandson."

Luffy frowned at the sound of the familiar voice and recognized it at once. "Aokiji. Why are you—?"

"Maa, maa. Let me talk," the man drawled out in his dark voice, talking as slow as he usually did. "Nico Robin is heading for Water 7. It seems she recently escaped from Alabasta and found refuge on a low profile cruise ship. I found her by chance when that ship crashed on a deserted island I happened upon while on a stroll. It was really quite a miracle."

Luffy rolled his eyes. For a miracle, Aokiji didn't sound all that psyched.

"And since I was on a stroll, I didn't really care to capture her or anything. I figured you'd get to it for me, y'know?"

The CP9 Chief stayed silent, waiting for the Marine Admiral to get to his point.

"You know what this means, don't you, Chief?"

But as much as he hated to admit it, Aokiji made himself clear. "Yes. I understand." Luffy could almost picture Aokiji's self-satisfied smirk and he hated it.

"Since you're the grandson of a good friend, I'll let you borrow my golden den-den mushi—"

"I don't need it—"

"—I _insist._"

Luffy glared hatefully at the wall across from him and the hand around the receiver tightened, making the metal creak and bend under the pressure. "I hate you," Luffy spat out in acrid disgust. "I hate this system."

There was silence on the other side for a moment and Luffy inwardly hoped to himself that he had hurt Aokiji's feelings with his vehement declaration, but a moment later there came a heavy sigh and a tired smacking of lips. "You can't leave. You know this better than the rest of us."

And Luffy automatically thought back to his members, each of them baring their cold smiles at him as they grabbed his hair and pulled his jacket and called for him "_Chief... Chief..."_ Luffy shuddered, wrapping an arm around himself protectively, and he bowed his head, resigned.

Aokiji seemed to sense Luffy's defeat as he spoke, "I'll leave this in your capable hands. Use my power wisely."

* * *

Luffy easily got the job Sengoku offered to him. With a bit of persuasion from both Garp and Sengoku as well as Luffy's own innate leadership qualities, the boy received permission from all the top officials of the government and even went through a trial phase where he was put against another commander (some loud-mouthed man in charge of Cipher Pol 5) in a battle of wits and commanding abilities. Luffy's great show of potential honestly _scared_ the high officials, but they did not deny him the liberty he rightly deserved.

So on July 18th, an unimportant date, Luffy was given charge over the CP9, the secret service working directly under the world government.

"They are the Cipher Pol that should not exist," Sengoku explained to him.

"Why not?" Luffy voiced his thoughts aloud. "Why are they so special that they have to hide themselves?"

Sengoku tsked and handed another useless report over to his goat who lazily took it from its master's hand and ate it with a bleat. "It's not that they are special, really. It's because, in the name of justice, they have the special permission from the government to... execute any civilian that refuses to cooperate with them."

Luffy narrowed his eyes and his body instinctively curled in upon itself. "... so they can kill civilians and call it justified murder?"

"That's that kind of attitude that will get you nowhere with this job. I told you already didn't I? 'You must abandon all ties on humanity and serve justice the way we, the government, see it.'"

The young boy made a face and turned away, obviously displeased. "I don't like that."

"You must not change it," Sengoku warned, looking up from his papers to the boy. "This is one thing we are all powerless against, yet it is very necessary. Without the CP9, the world's justice will go nowhere. Life is not that sweet to people."

"It's selfish," Luffy whispered heatedly, still arguing his beliefs. Sengoku sighed, he expected this. Luffy was still young and had a positive outlook on life no matter how hardened he became with Garp's training. But in order to fully accept the job as CP9's chief, he had to accept the way justice was as defined by the rest of the world.

"Let me ask you something, Luffy-kun," Sengoku started, pouring himself and the boy a cup of tea that Garp had brought in earlier, "despite the existence of the CP9, what sort of jobs do you think they are given?"

Luffy thought about it for a moment but came to only one conclusion. "The dirtiest ones they have."

Sengoku snorted, smirking wryly at Luffy's blunt answer. "At least you're quick to catch on," he said, almost as if complimenting the boy. "The CP9 is a necessary organization. You might say that their method of killing civilians for justice is selfish, but isn't it those who are unwilling to help out for the better of the world who are truly selfish? If losing a handful of people's lives can save a hundred more, then anyone with a righteous sense of justice should be able to make that choice. Can you, Luffy-kun?"

And this was the real question. Luffy already had the job in the bag, but whether or not he was able to keep up with the number of deaths that the job would surely bring him was the bigger issue.

So Luffy thought. He assessed himself and his own feelings on this controversy. One life for a hundred more. But even that single life was precious in Luffy's eyes; how could he judge whether one person was worth a hundred?

'_Isn't that the selfishness that this Seagull-guy was talking about_?'

Unable to come to a decision and floundering about this way and that with each leg on both side of the fence. How can indecisiveness save lives?

And Luffy already decided to take the job so, in order to throw away that hypocritical side of his, must he also throw away that part of himself that was unwilling to kill a single, precious life?

"That's dumb," Luffy decided. "It's unfair."

Sengoku sipped his tea nonchalantly, breathing out heavily when he heard Luffy's answer and he let his eyes close. He didn't want to see Luffy at that moment. "Life is unfair. You will learn in time."

* * *

"Looks like they're back..." Luffy pressed his nose against the window, fogging it with his breaths. He just received a report from one of the agents on the train along with the CP9 members. Other than the occasional fits one of the prisoners threw, it seemed that the mission went smoothly and without hitch. "It's been five years since all eight of the CP9 members have met together like this."

Luffy looked up at the three men who were situated on his couch, each of them wearing rather guilty expression on their faces as their chief approached them with a old newspaper in hand. "And yet, I'm not all that happy," Luffy confessed, flipping through a daily newspaper nonchalantly, not really reading the words on the gray pages. "If I'm not mistaken, the plan was to kill the rebellion leader. There were only supposed to be three casualties. Yet..."

The fast fist hitting the surface of the wooden desk made a loud, resounding noise in the large and virtually empty room. Luffy clenched his teeth and frowned at the three men that were sitting down before him with their hands in their laps and downcast eyes. "Yet a total of 23 people were eliminated. Why?"

At once, the largest man at the far right side of the couch fell to the ground with his forehead touching the stone title floor. Kumadori prostrated himself before Luffy as he begged forgiveness in a thunderous voice, "_Yoyoi!_ Iiiit's all my faaaault—! I shall take full responsibility, yoyoi!"

"Enough, Kumadori!" Jyabura exclaimed in fit, spitting as he spoke at the man on the ground. "A man shouldn't lower his head so easily! I'll explain what happened, just sit quietly!"

"_Yoiyoiyoi!_"

Luffy stared at Fukurou who refused to meet his eyes. His mouth was zipped up tightly and he sat on the far right side of the couch with his legs crossed. Sweat was running down his round face profusely. Something was up with this one...

"Yoyoi! I shall commit seppuku in order to regain my honor!" Kumadori proclaimed, completely ignoring Jyabura's order of silence as he pulled a knife on himself.

Luffy barely gave Kumadori a glance as Jyabura picked himself up to his feet and started to fully explain the situation to his chief, trying to make sure his pay wasn't cut, and trying to insure that his young boss wouldn't kill the three of them at that moment. "We were ordered to go in quietly, but..." the dark-skinned man stammered helplessly for a bit, seeing that the dark glint in Luffy's eyes wasn't dissipating. "We couldn't have known that the plan was leaked!"

Crossing his arms across his chest and sighing tiredly, Luffy was about to answer Jyabura's frantic explanations with a few calming words when a distinctive sound of something unzipping itself was heard from his side. Luffy turned to face Fukuro who opened his large mouth and said, "I had announced it to the town, chapapa."

"WHAT?" Jyabura roared, looking about ready to pull out his hair. "You again, Fukurou? Why do you have a zipper on your mouth if you never use it?"

But, with a single raised hand from Luffy, the zoan fell silent and watched in fascinated horror as the young chief grabbed Fukurou by his lips and drew the larger member in close. Fukurou's eyes grew wide and his face turned ghostly as Luffy bared his teeth at him in a grin. "Maybe seven years together just isn't enough, Fukurou. Don't you understand me yet? When I say only three people were meant to die, I only _want_ to see three people's names on the casualties report. That means the mission was a success, right?"

Fukurou nodded his head the best he could with Luffy's fingers wrapped around his mouth like a stapler. Jyabura and Kumadori paused in whatever they were doing and watched the pair with slack jaws and round eyes. They had seen and experienced Luffy's anger first-hand many times, but it was still amazing every time they witnessed it. It was mind-boggling that such a small body could produce enough strength to over-power a rokushiki-user's brawn.

"So the reason that there are twenty other names on my list is due to your incompetence and stupidity, right?"

Fukurou hesitated for only a second before nodding his head again. Luffy smiled in response to the answer and his fingers dug harder into Fukuro's mouth, meshing the zippers into flesh painfully. "So next time I say something, I want it to happen. I don't care what comes out of your big mouth, but _don't_ let it jeopardize the mission. Understood?"

The other muffled an affirmative the best he could and Luffy released him with a frown. Fukurou fell back against the couch, breathing heavily and wiping the sweat from his brows. He knew for himself just how powerful Luffy really was, and he should've known better than to mess with the mission like he had. But honestly, if Fukurou had known that so many people would have died if he spilled the beans about the plan, then he would have just kept his big mouth shut. Not because Fukurou particularly cared for those people, but because his Chief was sensitive about that sort of stuff and if the chief wasn't happy, no one was happy.

Luffy shook his head and returned to his seat, lazily stirring his cup of tea with a silver spoon as he waited for Fukurou to regain himself. "I'm sorry I had to use violence like that, Fukurou, but you can imagine how unhappy I was with this mission, can't you?"

The other man nodded wordlessly, still a bit flabbergasted and breathless from the pressure of Luffy's killing-intent a moment ago. It was... amazing.

Jyabura and Kumadori, although not on the receiving end this time around, felt the overwhelming aura coming from their chief like a thick miasma that rolled off his lanky body. Jyabura had to reel himself in before he gave way to the _haki_.

"Chief!" A doorguard from outside the room called out, "Lucci and company are here!"

Luffy straightened, eyebrows rising to his hairline. They were earlier than expected. "Very well. Show them in."

* * *

When putting a ten-year old boy who hasn't even gone through puberty yet in charge of older boys and girls who were already in their twenties or close to it, there were bound to be some who would be displeased with it.

"This is your new Chief."

"Pleasure to meet you," Luffy said in his still-unchanged voice. His posture was relaxed yet straight with his hands gathered behind his back and his lips pulled into an emotionless line. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy."

The other taller and rather imposing figures before him looked down at their new chief, and while the others took him in with a condensing sneer and snort, one member stepped out from the line and pointed a finger right between Luffy's eyes, shouting, "Why the hell do I have to be bossed around by some snot-nosed brat that probably doesn't even have his pubes grown in yet?"

Luffy's brows furrowed, irked by that last line.

"Jyabura, calm down," another CP9 member with wavy dark hair and a small black stubble said in a smooth voice. "You're making a fool out of yourself, as usual."

"But this little shit—"

"Is our new chief," another one, with a strange way of talking and a stranger nose, piped up with a slight grin. "It is nice to meet you. My name is Kaku. I'm 16."

Luffy looked at Kaku''s outstretched hand with suspicious eyes, but after a brief moment of examination, he reached forward and shook the teen's hand with a firm grip. "You're young," Luffy said to him and Kaku chuckled lightly in response, "I don't really want to hear that from a 10 year old."

Seeing Kaku's pleasant introduction of himself, the only female in the ranks stepped forward, but did not attempt to reach out or touch her young boss in any way. "I am Kalifa," she said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose primly. Luffy recognized her coldness but said and did nothing, only giving her a curt nod in response.

The other members didn't seem all too thrilled about their new chief, and even the two that did introduce themselves looked dubiously at the boy.

It couldn't be helped of course, even Luffy understood that. Although these people were trained to listen to orders and follow them out professionally, there was no way they could be forced to respect someone they did not hold any sort of high regard towards, even their chief.

'_I'm going to make them care. I'm going to make them see me as someone who can hold a candle to their flame_.'

"We'll be working together for a while," Luffy said pleasantly, regarding each of the members and returning their distasteful stare with an even gaze. "Let's do our best."

-tobecontinued-


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1 was beta-ed by LMMN  
Chapter 2 is untouched and filthy dirty. enjoy.

As always break lines indicate a switch from present to past to present.

**Black Scab  
****Chapter 2**

* * *

"It's been a while, sir."

Luffy agreed and allowed himself a smile as he turned to the four returning members of the CP9. He hadn't seen them gathered in his office like this in five years, but he didn't know whether he was glad to have them back or disappointed to see that, essentially, nothing had changed. "Welcome back, Lucci, Kaku, Blueno, and Kalifa."

"That's sexual harassment," the only female member of the group said with a frown.

Luffy ignored it, mostly because he never understood what Kalifa meant by that.

Lucci, leading the group as always, waited until Luffy's full attention turned to him and he then gave his briefing, "Wanted for assaulting government agents in Water 7 eight years ago: the criminal, Cutty Flam. And twenty years ago, wanted for attacking Marine ships in Ohara, West Blue: the criminal, Nico Robin." Lucci met his black eyes to Luffy's and the chief relaxed into his chair, fighting back a grimace. So impressive, so professional; it almost brought a tear to Luffy's eyes. "Both criminals have been escorted here. They're waiting just outside."

Luffy nodded, taking a moment to collect himself. This mission for Pluton had been going on for five long years; success was inevitable, yet when the prize was presented before him with wrapping paper and a ribbon, Luffy found it hard to believe that it was finally over.

And he had yet to decide on his next course of action.

While the chief was silently thinking, Jyabura turned in his seat with a wide smirk, wanting to give his greeting, "Long time no see, Lucci. Looks like that flat mug of yours hasn't changed much."

Lucci cocked his head to the side, looking utterly unimpressed. "Same goes for your stupid looks, Jyabura."

Kaku, ever the peace-keeper, stepped in between the two zoans and tried to quell the fight before it started. "Settle down, you two. We haven't seen each other in such a long time. Try to make it a good reunion for the chief's sake."

This got the two to quiet as both of the men turned to look at the silent Luffy who was still deep in thought. Jyabura, already having seen Luffy's wrath not even ten minutes ago, wanted to avoid bothering the young chief anyway, while Lucci simply did all he could to make sure his boss was undisturbed.

As if knowing that talking now would annoy the rest of the members, Fukurou began to undo the zipper of his mouth to speak, "Chapapa—"

However, before words could even come out, he was kicked in the side, punched in the neck, elbowed in the waist, and finally brought back down to the stone floor by a swift leg to his shoulder.

"Couldn't keep your mouth shut, Fukurou?" Kalifa said almost tauntingly as the thoroughly abused man rolled back up onto his feet and pressed his fingertips together and closed his eyes in deep concentration.

"_Rokushiki Ryuugi: Te-awase_! If a typical armed guardsman is... considered to have 10 douriki... then your strengths are: Kalifa at 630 douriki, Blueno at 820 douriki, Kaku... 2200 douriki, and Lucci..."

There was an ominous pause before Lucci's number was announced and everyone waited with baited breaths; even Luffy, bothered by the noise coming from his members, listened to the listed numbers with interest.

Fukurou's eyes flew open and he pinned Lucci with a shocked expression. "4000 douriki...!"

Jyabura stood up at once and complained loudly, unable to accept the difference between his number and Lucci's. "I don't believe this! Forget about Lucci for now, are you saying that I scored lower than _Kaku_ too?"

Fukurou cackled while he rocked to-and-fro on the heel of his foot, "Chapapa—! Kaku's gotten stronger too!"

This incited more of Jyabura's anger as the man spat and sputtered while pointing an accusing finger at Kaku who merely looked at him with a unsavory frown. "Say whatever you like. I'm not interested either way."

"That's right," Lucci commented from the side, grabbing Jyabura's sporadic attention with this dark drawl. "You shouldn't bother with the barkings of a mad dog."

"Who are you calling a mad dog, Lucci? You wild cat!"

Luffy watched in mild fascination as both men growled and snapped at each other while slowly transforming into their beast state, baring claws and fangs while practically frothing at the mouth in their individual anger. "Just let it go already," Luffy said, intervening now. As much as he would have liked to give them time for a nice reunion, he had other guests waiting for him outside. "Things like douriki or whatever aren't important."

Fukurou took this moment to unzip the corner of his mouth and whisper to no one in particular, "The chief's douriki is 2800."

As the outbursts of disbelief and amazement began, Luffy glared at Fukurou who looked at anything else but him. Having such a powerful director was unheard of within the Cipher Pol ranks. If one was that strong, it was natural to have him enrolled, not sitting behind a desk and writing reports.

"We already knew he was strong, but..." Kalifa frowned, her brows lifting her hairline in surprise. "How are you stronger than Kaku?"

"It doesn't matter," Luffy urged, pinching the bridge of his nose in order to ward off the headache that was beginning to throb between his eyes. If he knew that his strength would have caused such a big uproar even to this day, he would have just let his muscles rot. (Except he wouldn't. Luffy would never allow that to happen to himself.)

Kaku gave his boss a wry smile while fixing the cap on his head. "That's kinda unfair. I go out and do all the hard work while you sit at your desk and write excuses for us."

"It's kinda unfair that you would describe my job in such a way," Luffy snapped back, annoyed that even Kaku, who was normally very obedient and well-mannered, would stand around and talk about useless things like that.

Luffy didn't fight. It didn't matter if he was strong or weak. All his strength and abilities had no point if all he did was 'sit and write excuses'. Even if Lucci or one of the others would occasionally come to him and ask for a spar, Luffy had no business agreeing to it. He was not supposed to; he was not allowed to.

"Shut up, all of you," Luffy, having enough, ordered.

All at once, the once bustling room stilled into a dead halt. Pleased by the effectiveness of his command, Luffy stood and gave each of his members a deceptively sweet smile. "As much as I'd like to throw a 'party' for our long awaited get-together... I think we should just get this over and done with. So, bring them in.

The hope of the world."

* * *

Luffy brushed off his clothes, glaring at Jyabura's wide back as the older man continued his stroll down the hall as if he didn't just shove into Luffy.

"Bastard," the boy cursed, blowing on his skinned palms. It was still his second week amongst the other CP9 members. Kumadori and Blueno were away on a mission, but the rest of them were around the building, either resting or training.

Luffy spent most of his time in his offices, getting used to the steady amount of incoming paperwork as well as the exact details behind and between words on official treaties. These had to be dealt with delicate care, and Luffy was beginning to understand the true hardships of "desk jobs".

And the CP9 were not making it any easier for him either.

Even Kaku, who seemed to accept him more than the others, looked down upon him with pitiful eyes, almost as if he thought Luffy wouldn't last—as if he wasn't strong enough to be in their presence.

Bastards. The lot of them.

Luffy had no need to prove himself, however, he was their boss after all; no matter if the more vocally displeased members bitched and moaned about it.

"Ah, Chief."

Luffy looked over his shoulder, surprised to see Kalifa attempting to exchange words with him at all. The woman was a cold and silent observer most of the time and didn't like attention being drawn onto her without need. "Can I help you, Kalifa?"

The blonde tipped her head to the side, making the hallway lights glint off her glasses ominously and Luffy wasn't sure if he wanted to be alone with her anymore. "Not really," Kalifa said casually. "Just wondering if you would like to drink some tea with me." The '_And talk about the apparent mistake of your appointment as our leader_' was left out, but Luffy could see it from the tension in the air.

Obviously, one of the others put her up to this, hoping Luffy might lower his guard if his opponent was a woman.

'_Fine_,' Luffy snarled silently, eyes hardening at the challenge. '_If this is what it takes for you bastards to get off my back. Then fine.'_

"I'd be happy to."

And those were his damning words as he followed Kalifa up the line of stairs to her room at the top of a tower.

Like her neat appearance, her room was also aesthetically furnished with a large bath in the middle of her room and a round tea table next to it. Kalifa led Luffy to a chair and motioned for him to sit while she crossed over to the other side and sat down in her own seat, brushing her pencil skirt down primly.

"Would you like some green tea exported from your homeland of East Blue or store-bought white tea?"

Luffy narrowed his eyes, lips tightening into a frown. They obviously did their research on him, one way or another. "... White tea, please."

Kalifa smirked and popped open the container of the said-tea, pouring the mix into the teapot. "Strange how you didn't choose the green tea. Perhaps the taste of home doesn't interest you?"

"I just like white tea better." It was a lie, of course. Luffy didn't know the difference between any sort of tea and plain old grass water. Luffy just didn't want the option that obviously sounded better than the other.

Kalifa's smile was knowingly sweet as she responded, "Is that so? I'll make sure to remember." And she poured the drink in two flower-printed porcelain cups and handed one over to Luffy who took it carefully, making sure their fingers did not touch.

"Thank you," the boy said without sincerity, putting the cup down and not once did he take a drink. Kalifa crossed her fingers and laid her chin lightly upon them, her lips still curled in a lovely simper.

'_A fox_,' Luffy decided as the two simply stared into each other's eyes, neither of them willing to break down first. '_A fox bathed in sheep's wool. She'll bleat and skip, but in the end, a killer is still a killer.'_

"How did you come upon this job, Chief? It was a surprise to see a young one, such as yourself, in charge of a secret organization such as our own." Her tone was light, one used for starting a nonchalant conversation of no consequence. "How did you do it?"

Luffy played around with the thin handle of his teacup for a moment, looking thoughtful before he flashed the woman a disarming grin and answered lightly, "Lots of effort of course."

Kalifa pinched her lips, not impressed. She took a slight sip of her tea, her pink lipstick leaving a faint trace around the rim of the cup. "Surely, there was more to it than that?"

"No." Luffy responded, leaning further back into his chair. Why the hell did he have to be interrogated by his own subordinates? "No more."

He was ten years old, sure. But that didn't mean he had to be treated like one (especially after all the work he did to get this job. And these shits were looking down at him like he was nothing but the grime on the bottom of their shoes).

"I'll tell you now, Kalifa," Luffy said as he stood up, having to jump off the chair as his feet didn't quite reach the floor with his height. This didn't deter him however, and from the serious look on Kalifa's face, she didn't seem to take notice of it either. "I'm not going to take any more of these insults lightly. I may be young, but I'm still your chief. So if I tell you 'no more,' I expect you and the others to understand these exact words that are coming out of my mouth and respect them. Am I clear?"

The blonde took a moment to lift her glasses up the bridge of her nose and Luffy felt his apprehension grow at the sight of her innocent smile.

And Luffy about-faced and marched out of her room without so much as a farewell.

He didn't miss the fact that she didn't answer an affirmative to his question.

* * *

Nico Robin was a beautiful woman in all respect, but Luffy could care less about that. She was probably the only living soul left in the world that could translate the poneglyphs, and she was taken into custody for that matter. Her presence had no bearing to his mission.

However, the man beside her—who was currently watching him calmly with dark eyes—was Luffy's priority.

"Cutty Flam. It's nice to finally meet you, face-to-face. It's a shame that it's under these circumstances."

As Luffy figured, the other man did nothing but glare with seething eyes. That was fine; it was better that he was hated now, so he felt no remorse afterwards.

"CP5's chief, Spandam," Luffy spoke, and there was a furrowing of the brows on Cutty Flam's part, his foul mood becoming rank, "told me about his accident which you happened to be involved in. As the perpetrator of course. I don't make a habit of talking to Spandam, but the man expressed an... extreme desire to leave some words with you about the incident concerning the execution of one fishman named Tom." Cutty Flam's face was pulled into an angry, thin line at the mention of his mentor's death. Luffy clasped his hands in front of him and looked up at the other man through his fringe. "Would you like to hear them?"

Of course, even if Cutty Flam had answered in an affirmative, there was no way Luffy was relaying a message from someone below him. Spandam did not have the authority to even speak of CP9's mission, and he was a fool to think that Luffy, just because he was a mere 17 year old teen, would do as he said.

But Cutty Flam gnashed his teeth together and stabbed Luffy with a blazing glare, his features becoming animalistic as he talked through his teeth to the young chief. "The reason Tom sacrificed his life to protect the blueprints... was to keep them away from scum like you!"

And he snapped his teeth at Luffy who made no move to dodge the attack, because he knew it would not reach him. The moment Cutty Flam took a step forward, in a single fluid motion, Lucci was already at the dismantler's side, leg raised above his waist and he brought it down in a snap unto Cutty Flam's head, sending his face to the ground with an echoing smack and an audible crack of a breaking bone.

"At ease," Luffy ordered, and the steadied punch that Lucci was about to send paused. The young chief kneeled down next to the cyborg's side, looking at the face that was contorted in pain. "Your friend Iceburg," he whispered into Cutty Flam's ear softly, "was... a genius. A true shame about his death. My condolences."

"... it was you bastards..." Cutty Flam choked out, eyes squeezed shut. "You bastards killed him."

Luffy pulled back and stood, straightening his sleeves and brushing the dirt off his knees. "It was a very hard decision to make, I'll have you know. I've always respected Iceburg, and my men have been under his guidance for years. I owe him a lot." And Luffy turned back towards his desk, sitting behind it and rifling through his many reports and paperwork. "So it would be nice... if the blueprint was never found."

Cutty Flam stiffened and looked at Luffy with wide, disbelieving eyes. A secretive smile spread across the CP9's director's face and he chuckled from behind the sheafs of paper, "I never liked dramatic things like weapons of mass destruction."

* * *

CP9 used to consist of nine members. Lucci, Kaku, Jyabura, Blueno, Kalifa, Fukurou, Kumadori and one more member who met his end in an unfortunate "accident".

Unlike the rest of the CP9, that last member made his apparent dislike towards Luffy loud and clear. He never raised a hand against the boy, but his complaints never stopped and whenever Luffy entered the room he was in, he would make a point to get up and leave as obnoxiously as he could. Luffy would frown at this behavior, but otherwise he stayed silent and passive.

It was only when that member exploded with frustration and irritation that Luffy found his hand forced to move.

"I am so sick of taking orders from a ten-year old!" he roared, receiving annoyed looks from the other members of the CP9. "The brat comes up to my knees, but he's still my superior! What the hell is the government thinking!"

Kaku tried to calm him down, but as usual, Jyabura added oil to the flame with a taunting smirk and cold words, "Maybe the elders thought this ten-year old brat is just that much smarter than you. Not that I blame them."

"What was that, Jyabura!"

"Guys, c'mon…" Kaku reasoned. "And you really have no right to say that, Jyabura. He's your superior too."

Jyabura crossed his arms and stayed silent, still smirking darkly.

The last member was still growling lowly. His lips were raised, baring his teeth. He was nearly frothing at the mouth and the other members knew that he had already reached his limit. "I can't take it anymore," he snarled and started to stalk towards the door. His back was hunched and his hands curled into tight fists. "I'm gonna do something about this, even if it costs me my job."

"Hey!" Kaku called, "What are you planning on doing?"

"Ain't it obvious?" the man sneered, looking over his shoulder at the other members who were all watching him with intrigue. "I'm gonna show that little brat that I'm not some _house_-dog for him to train." And he went out, starting towards the Director's Office. He had only one thing in his mind: blood.

The other members followed him, not stopping or encouraging him in his hunt.

None of them were as vehement as that last member in their objections to Luffy's position, but it was true that all of them were unhappy with it. So while they weren't about to get involved in whatever he was planning, they had no intention of holding him back.

Kalifa smiled elusively and pushed her glasses up the bridge of the nose. "This is getting interesting." '

Kaku shook his head with a tired sigh. "Well, whatever happens, I tried to stop him."

At this moment, Luffy had been overlooking the island of Enies Lobby, squinting his eyes at the forever-sun in the sky above. But, in warning, his entire body tensed as a heavy killing-aura exploded from nearby, and he watched with shocked eyes as the large doors to his office was ripped off their hinges.

He frowned as the last member's large and foreboding figure appeared from through the dust and debris; he realized his current situation quickly, and he began to loosen his button-up shirt and stretch his limbs. "I figured something like this would happen sooner or later," he said, eyeing the rest of the CP9 members behind him. "But I didn't expect it to be this soon. I guess I overestimated you guys."

The last member said no words, but the animalistic snarls and growls that rumbled from his throat was enough of a response.

The man wasted no time in attacking Luffy. Dashing forward with _soru_, he let loose a quick finger, aiming for the boy's vital points with pinpoint accuracy. "_Shigan!_"

The fight was painfully quick. The other CP9 members expected it to be so. But…

"No way…" Kaku gasped, unable to take his eyes off the scene before him. "How did…"

Equal and pure shock ran through the entirety of the CP9 as they took in the image of their fallen comrade and their little ten-year old boss standing above him with a disappointed frown on his young face. "What? That's it?"

The last member coughed, feeling dizzy and breathless. His neck was stinging painfully and his body was not working the way he wanted it to. "What… did you do to me…?"

"Nothing much," Luffy told him with a light shrug. "Just tapped you. I didn't think you'd go down with that though. So weak," he said without any negative feelings. Luffy laughed softly and prodded the unmoving body with the toe of his shoe. "Are you done now?"

"You… I… _you_…!"

Luffy looked towards the doorway where the rest of the members were standing, still frozen with shock. "Hey. Take him and get out. I was enjoying myself before you bastards came and ruined the peace. Jerks."

Blueno moved first. He grabbed the defeated member off the ground and used his Door-Door ability to teleport out of the room, possibly heading towards the infirmary. Then the others began to file out, each of them watching Luffy until they could no longer see him.

At the end, only Lucci remained. He and Luffy stared at one another with the same amount of cold intensity, practically daring the other to back down first. Luffy looked away, rubbing his face with a tired sigh. "I said get out of here. Didn't you hear me? Or do you want to be charged with insubordination too?"

Lucci said nothing at first, but his lips curled into a tight smirk; it was one that sent shivers down Luffy's spine.

"Yes sir," the zoan drawled silkily before he unceremoniously walked away with a little tip of his hat.

Once he was out of sight, Luffy curled into himself and wrapped his arms around his head. He was tired.

-tobecontinued-

And my original character is never to be seen again.  
I'd love to hear more thoughts and comments about the story from the readers, even if it is things like "you misspelled blahblah". :)


	3. Chapter 3

As usual, not edited. Probably not looked over either, I forget.

As usual, the break line indicates a switch from present to past etc

**Black Scab**

**Chapter 3**

Luffy was not in any particular hurry. The mission had lasted five years, he was sure the officials could wait another day or two. When he told this to the members and his prisoners, Robin spoke up for the first time since she was captured and asked him why he wasn't just tossing them on the next ship for the Marine HQ.

Ever honest, Luffy looked the woman straight in the eye and told her matter-of-factly. "'Cause I don't want to."

He was sure pulling back the delivery of the prisoners was going to come back and bite him in the butt, but at this point in time he didn't care. He could mope about it later, but right now…

"Lucci, Kaku, Kalifa, Blueno…" Luffy smiled as he regarded the four, "Good job. You've done well."

Lucci straightened his posture at the praise, a strange sort of pride and self-satisfaction rolling off of him in waves.

Although Luffy said he would make his CP9's reports his priority, right now his stomach was calling for attention so the young director decided to shift his attention to feeding himself as he was sure he wasn't going to get any work done while hungry.

"I'm hungry," he announced, laying a hand over his flat stomach. "I'm going to get lunch." He then looked behind him where the CP9 and the two prisoners were staring at him wordlessly, albeit the prisoners seemed like they were shocked into disbelief while his subordinates looked simply resigned or amused. "You can come along if you would like. I'm sure you haven't had a bite to eat yet, Nico Robin… Cutty Flam."

As expected, Franky refused in the rudest manner he could while Nico Robin also declined his invitation softly.

Luffy shrugged at their answers. "Suit yourselves." He then turned to the guards stationed at the door and ordered them, "Why don't you go ahead and lead those two to their rooms."

The guards faltered for a moment. "Rooms, sir…?"

"Of course." And a casual grin bloomed on Luffy's young face, making him look like the 17-year old he was. "They're guests."

Snapping into a sharp salute, the guards barked "Sir!" and hurried to lead the two _guests_ out of the office.

After watching them leave, Luffy let out a soft breath he had been holding and gave the remaining CP9 members a sideways glance. Most of them were still in their seats, looking back at him expectantly and Luffy felt his earlier good mood crumble a bit by their eyes. Forcing a small, polite smile, Luffy turned to face his members and asked them, "Would any of you like to join me for lunch?"

He knew Kaku would probably come along, as well as perhaps Fukurou… but it honestly surprised him when everyone but Jyabura rose to their feet gracefully and walked over to join his side.

Kaku looked over his shoulder at the still form of Jyabura and asked, "Won't you come along?"

The zoan turned away from a frown and told him rather solidly, "No."

Fukurou took this as a cue to put in his own two belis and said through a half-open zipper, "All the soldiers know that Gatherine rejected him earlier today."

"What?!" Jyabura sputtered and flushed red when he realized that he was being looked upon with cold, pitying eyes. "How the hell would they know that?!"

"Chapapa! I told them!"

"FUKUROOOOU!"

* * *

For a long while after the event of Three Seconds (as Luffy liked to call it because that was really how long the fight lasted), nothing changed for him. The CP9 members were all off doing their own missions, and although the absence of one member was really nothing to them… Luffy still needed to make up for this missing number. So the members were out and about… and Luffy was holed up in his office.

Nothing changed.

Until the first member, Blueno, came home.

"Good morning, Chief."

Luffy stopped in his step and looked up at the big man beside him. Blueno was looking down at him as the boy barely came up to his waist and they both exchanged looks; Luffy's, wide-eyed and startled, while Blueno was calm and searching.

They never greeted him before. They never called him "Chief" before.

"G…" Luffy stuttered, not knowing if he was doing the right thing, "Good morning."

Blueno nodded and walked ahead, not a hair out of place or a misplaced step along the way. It was honestly a bizarre thing.

But it got worse from there.

By the time Kaku and Kalifa got back, the square-nosed teen couldn't seem to leave Luffy alone as he followed him around whenever he had free time, asking questions with a bright smile on his face. "How are you, Chief?" ("Doing good.") "What are you doing today, Chief?" ("Reports.") "Isn't the weather nice, Chief?" ("It's always nice.") Anything to get Luffy to talk back to him.

Kalifa was more subtle in her sudden interest in their young chief. She had gifted him with a box of white tea leaves from the town where she had her mission. "They're famous for their teas, Chief," she told him matter-of-factly before leaving. Not giving Luffy enough time to even thank her.

Then Fukurou and Kumadori returned, both of them bombarding his office at the same time. For a moment, Luffy thought they would attack him as well until Kumadori kneeled before him in what was definitely a sign of subordination and let out a long and howling, "Yoi yoi yooooi! The-the-the missioooon~ was a compleeete success, Chief! Yoiyoiyoi!"

"Hm," Luffy grunted awkwardly. It was the first time he had gotten a verbal report from any of them. "Good work…"

"Chapapa! Chief, I heard from one of the soldiers who heard from someone in the Houbantai who seemed to have heard from the Baskervilles that," Fukurou leaned in close then, closing his zipper partway to whisper softly to Luffy, "It seems there is word of some unsavory business happening within town… such as a _spy_." The last word was hissed and it sent a shock through Luffy's body as his dark eyes narrowed in contemplation.

"Thank you, Fukurou," Luffy said slowly. He didn't know whether to believe this piece of information or not as it was the first time Fukurou had ever told him in-the-shadows information like this. "I shall look into it."

This seemed to satisfy the loud-mouthed man as he settled back and gave his boss a lop-sided smile. (When Luffy did look into it, it seemed like Fukurou wasn't all mouth as they did find a rather shady looking character cooped up in an innocent looking house within the town. He had been selling whatever information he got a hold of to the Revolutionary Army.)

So, already having experienced the sudden shift of the CP9 members, Luffy prepared himself for the worst when Jyabura and Lucci returned.

But Jyabura wasn't so bad to be honest. He had just passed him by in the hall, and Luffy stiffened, wondering what was going to come from this wild man. But Jyabura simply looked at him, gave a curt nod and walked on. Nothing else. So out of relief, Luffy let his shoulders sag and the breath that he was holding go.

It was a bad idea to relax.

"Chief."

It was a deep voice. One that Luffy didn't hear often, but recognized well enough. Luffy looked back the way Jyabura had come from and saw another man, lean and tall, standing there patiently. With a sense of resignation, Luffy turned to face him and nodded his head in greeting. "Lucci," he replied back simply.

This seemed to satisfy Lucci however as he let a long and teeth baring smile show. Luffy suddenly felt very annoyed by this and narrowed his eyes. "I hope you have your report done," he said seriously, but Lucci let the tone slide off him like water on glass and nodded his head.

"Of course, Chief," he replied; the tone of his voice was light and airy. "Jyabura has it, I'm sure he'll bring it to you."

Luffy nodded. "I see. I suppose I should go wait for him—"

He had meant to leave with that, hoping to escape this strange tension between them, but Lucci (with his impossibly long legs) closed the distance between them easily and caught Luffy's thin arm and held him back. For a moment, Luffy simply looked at the hand. It looked large enough that his fingers could maybe wrap twice around his arm. Then he looked up at Lucci with a small frown on his face; the man looked down at him with an even expression and didn't seem to have anything to say anytime soon. So Luffy furrowed his brows and sharpened his eyes, "Let me go."

"… No." And the hand around his arm tightened. "Fight me."

"Fight you?" Luffy repeated in surprise.

Lucci practically leered at him and pulled the boy in closer to hiss, "Yes. _Fight me_."

There was a thoughtful silence from Luffy for a few seconds before he gingerly pulled himself out of Lucci's grasp. After dusting himself off, an act solely to buy him some thinking time and to annoy Lucci, Luffy looked up at the man and said with a forced sweet smile, "I'm ten years old, Lucci. You can't be serious about fighting a kid like me."

"You're right, I don't want to fight a kid," Lucci said darkly, leaning in close enough that Luffy could feel his breath against his skin. "I want to fight against that _man_ that was able to defeat a Rokushiki user in three seconds. Bring him out. _Chief_."

With a strange sense of intrigue, Luffy watched the way Lucci's top teeth brushed against his thin bottom lip at that last word, and he knew very well…

That he wanted to fight.

His blood was boiling underneath his skin and there was a roaring in his ears that made his thoughts fuzzy—

Luffy shook his head roughly, trying to shake out all the noise inside. He stepped back and away from Lucci who seemed to realize just what Luffy went through if his satisfied little smirk meant anything.

"I'll leave you to your thoughts for today, Chief. If you need me… I'll be in my room." And with a last, very meaningful squeeze on Luffy's shoulder, Lucci walked ahead of him with a graceful, cat-like saunter. Luffy stayed behind and watched the man until he turned the corner. He then felt safe enough to turn his back and continue his way down the hall.

However, there was still that itching feeling behind his neck all the way down, but Luffy _refused_ to look back.

* * *

Lunch was an eventful affair. It was held in Luffy's room as it was probably the only one amongst everyone's with a table large enough to seat all of the gathered members. Jyabura decided to join them once he learned that they wouldn't be going down to the cafeteria so there was a proper reunion party with everyone involved... although, Luffy couldn't be sure this sort of thing was much a party. Not that he knew much about parties really, but he always thought that they involved loud noises, singing, and broken glasses.

This reunion party involved fine china plates and fragile wine glasses; everyone took turns talking but looked uninterested in whatever they were listening to. The only thing that could be called 'rambunctious' was Jyabura as he pointed his utensils at Blueno, who was seated across from him, and rudely interrupted the man's speech detailing his quiet life for the past five years.

"The hell have you been doing for five years then Blueno?! Running a BAR?!"

The normally stoic-faced paramecia creased his brows and the corners of his lips pinched in displeasure. "I assure you, it was for the mission."

"We were ship carpenters for those five years too," Kaku added helpfully.

Luffy cut a large piece from his steak and popped it into his waiting mouth with a happy noise. He had been silently listening to the others talk for a most part, but he was rather interested in this carpentry business that Kaku and Lucci had been involved in.

"How was the job?" Luffy asked innocently, mindlessly chewing his food. "Did you like it?"

Kaku and Lucci exchanged glances for a moment before Kaku answered with a slightly nervous chuckle, "Well, I suppose if you liked the mindless labor."

"Hmm," Luffy hummed, looking back down at his plate. Lucci was one thing, but Kaku was fairly easy to read and it seemed like he _did_ enjoy the job to a certain extent. "You can be honest. I won't mind." In fact, he'd much rather prefer Kaku proclaim his love for shipbuilding and quit this assassination business altogether (but that would be like tossing a Devil's Fruit user into the ocean and telling them to swim; impossible).

Lucci sipped his wine, looking every inch a dark villain, and he answered instead of Kaku who seemed to be struggling for words. "It wasn't a bad profession as far as professions went. It was, however, painfully clean and quite boring." He looked at Luffy with a shady smirk and eyes that made the teen feel very naked. "There's a reason we're in this job, Chief."

Luffy leaned back against his chair and felt somewhat troubled for a moment before smiling indulgently at Lucci. "I see. As expected of you."

It was still disappointing, that after everything they went through… Lucci's thirst for blood still wasn't quenched.

After that Luffy ducked out of the conversation and focused solely on his meal. However, he didn't realize that a pair of deep, hungry eyes watched him the whole time, following his every movement.

Once everyone had finished their meals and had enough of each other's company, they slowly started making their way back to their individual rooms for rest. Luffy said a warm goodbye for each of them, promising to look over their reports until only Lucci was left behind. Luffy waited for him with an open door, looking at the lingering man with expectant eyes. "Aren't you going to go as well?"

"It's been a while," Lucci said lightly, tracing a finger down a crystal seagull paperweight on his desk that Sengoku gave him for his birthday last year. Luffy let out a sigh and closed the door behind him.

Obviously, Lucci had no intention to leave. "What can I do for you, Lucci?"

"…" Lucci pulled his hat off and gently placed it on the desk. As if sensing something, Hattori, who had been relaxing on Lucci's shoulder, flew away with a soft coo and through the open window… out of sight.

There was a tense moment of silence for a moment as Lucci simply stared at Luffy with that same peculiar gleam in his eyes. Luffy forced his body to relax and he met Lucci's intense gaze head on, not backing down. This seemed to please Lucci greatly as he shivered with delight and swept his tongue over the line of his teeth and upturned lips.

It was all the warning Luffy needed.

Even as Lucci disappeared before his eyes, Luffy had a distinct sense of where he was and ducked his head in time to dodge a swift and deadly roundhouse kick aimed at his neck. Lucci took less than a second to regain his balance before coming in for his second attack. His movements were inhuman and impossible to track with just the naked eye.

But Luffy saw him well enough, dodging another attack aimed to kill. He knocked the _soru_ aimed for his heart away with a quick push of his hand and jumped out of the way, careful not to run into any furniture as he dodged each of Lucci's well-aimed attacks.

Lucci wasn't disheartened by this—in fact, it spurred him on and as the fight (although it mostly consisted of Lucci's one-sided attack and Luffy's fluid and effortless dodging) progressed, Luffy could see that the zoan was becoming more and more excited and his sick thrill was beginning to change him. His normally dark eyes turned a poisonous yellow and his pupils grew long and sharp while his bared teeth also elongated and the blunt ends turned pointed.

"_Fight!_" Lucci hissed, swiping his nails—no, his claws—at Luffy who neatly flipped over the dining table. He winced a bit when Lucci's claws went right through the expensive wood, but didn't have time to dwell on it as and the man came after him too quickly for him to linger on the ruined table. "_Fight me!"_

Luffy remained silent throughout the entire fight (if it could even be called that) and he had yet to even raise a fist against his strongest CP9 agent. He had no intention to either. He still remembered his last fight (a season ago, on a quiet business trip to Water 7) with Lucci clearly and he did not want a repeat of that incident.

It seemed that Lucci seemed to catch onto that as well as he paused in his attacks and his unfinished transformations melted away suddenly. "Perhaps you are afraid…" the man said slowly, his voice dropping lower in pitch until it was dark and full of unsavory intentions, "… that I will fight you like I did last time?"

"That wasn't a fight," Luffy replied with an unhappy frown on his face. He crossed his arms across his chest but his body was still tense and ready to leap at any time. "That _really_ wasn't a fight."

"I suppose," Lucci agreed after a thought, tilting his head to the side and allowing a sinful smile to stretch across his lips. "It was more of an _attack_ on my part. Wasn't it, Chief?"

Luffy chose not to comment as he wasn't sure what to say. Lucci, however, took his silence as an invitation and took a step towards him; his shoulders were relaxed and his movements were purposely slow and careful, showing the chief that he had no intention of attacking at this moment. "But… in the end, you weren't really complaining either were you?" He reached for the smaller man, making Luffy stiffen and stare at the hand, with its long, spread out fingers and steadily lengthening nails. But he didn't move an inch, even when Lucci's cold palm pressed against the back of his neck and he felt the sharp pricks of pain where the keen points of the man's claws dug into his skin.

"Lucci," Luffy said, his voice hard and directing, and it made the other man falter for a moment and narrow his eyes in hesitation. "Lucci, let me go."

An inner struggle seemed to have gone within Lucci's head at that moment as he stared into Luffy's equally dark and confident eyes; the man seemed to be searching for something and the corners of his lips tightened minutely and the grasp he had on Luffy loosened, but his hands still rested there. "… you won't fight me," he whispered, sounding disappointed.

And his almost bitter tone of voice made Luffy tip his chin down, a shadow in his eyes as he regarded Lucci's deep frown evenly. Then, CP9's celebrated chief sighed quietly, but he never broke eye contact with Lucci. "You overgrown housecat," he said without any weight in the words, and slowly, a small, slightly reluctant smile broke out on his face for the first time since the two were alone. Lightly, he rested both hands on Lucci's strong shoulders and pushed himself up to his toes, drawing in close enough that his breath warmed the other man's chin.

"I'll fight you, Lucci," he said, his smile turned sardonic then at his own words. Lucci's hot breath wafted over his dry lips for a second before Luffy leaned into him fully and closed the distance between them. It was a sticky and nauseatingly sweet connection, Luffy thought.

And as he closed his eyes, the usual, black images of his CP9 members rose up behind his closed eyelids, and soon it was more than just Lucci's large, possessive hands on his body; dozens of crawling, groping hands pulling at his skin and hair… pulling him down and he could hear all their echoing voices in his head, calling for him… _Chief… Chief… _

"Chief…" Lucci pulled away from him with a shuddering gasp. "Chief…"

Luffy silently buried his face into the man's chest and let his arms loosely wrap around Lucci's waist. His eyes remained shut and he tried to get rid of the stifling, filthy feeling that seemed to settle deep inside of him. Above him, Lucci let out a deep, rumbling sigh, sounding like a satisfied cat as he leaned heavily against the younger, smaller man. "Chief… you are our Chief. _Our's_." _Mine._

Luffy opened his eyes and simply stared at the rough fabric of Lucci's suit, lips thinned out into a line and eyes reflecting nothing but a resigned acceptance. "I know," he whispered. "I know it too well."

At that moment, wrapped up in Lucci's choking embrace, Luffy was nothing but a shell of man who had lost all his ideals and dreams, and was locked up like a prisoner by the chains of a secret organization called Cipher Pol 9.

* * *

Lucci and Luffy's first real battle happened not too long after Lucci's invitation for a duel. Luffy held out for a couple of days, keeping himself occupied with paperwork and avoiding the man like the plague. He was doing a good job of it for a while… until he got sick of staying in his office.

So, in order to stretch his legs, Luffy had exited the CP9 HQ altogether and walked into the streets of Enies Lobby (after listening to the Baskerville argue about who they REALLY were for about ten minutes). As expected, he was recognized by all the men he had passed by, and each and every one of them (the Marines, the Hobantai, the Baishinin) hid their mouths behind their hands and whispered words and rumors under their breath, knowing full well that their breathy lies and speculations traveled in the quiet halls of the Courthouse. Luffy paid it no mind and walked straight through.

The residential area of Enies Lobby were mostly for the Marine soldiers who were stationed on the island; if they had family they could live together with them here comfortably. But even amongst the civilians, the rumor that a ten-year old boy took over the highest seat in the Tower of Justice spread like wildfire. However, his name and any defining features were kept low profile, so Luffy, even while knowing that a single word spoken out of place could possibly give him away, from time to time liked to meet the normal people who lived their normal lives and didn't have a clue as to who he truly was.

It freed him, so to speak.

"Oh my, isn't it Luffy?" An elderly woman, who Luffy recognized as the lady who always made those chocolate cookies, took her hands off the laundry she was putting up to greet the boy. "It's been a while hasn't it, deary?"

"Nice to meet ya' again," Luffy said back amicably. He took her slightly wet hands and gave it a gentle squeeze, making the woman laugh. "You need help with that, Granny?" he asked, pointing at her load of laundry.

"Oh, no need. I've got it taken care of. Young boys like you need to go out and play, not do laundry," she waved him off, pushing towards the alleyway where the sound of children playing rang out clearly.

Luffy looked down the alley with longing eyes before glancing back up at the old woman who caught his gaze and gave him a gentle smile in return. Without even realizing it, Luffy gave her a grin as bright as the sun in return and skipped down the alley, waving both his arms above his head in farewell, "See ya later, Granny!"

"Play nice!"

"'Kay!"

There was no doubt in Luffy's mind that the other kids would be more than happy to let Luffy join their game. He looked like a normal boy with eyes too big for his face afterall. They didn't know anything about him other than his name and the fact that he wanted to play.

"Luffy's here guys! Let's start a new game and let him in!" said the oldest boy of the little rag-tag group. He was older than Luffy by a couple of years and a whole head taller than him too. He was the makeshift leader whenever decisions had to be made and Luffy let it be that way.

"What are we playing today?" Luffy asked one of the girls who beamed at him, showing off a missing front tooth.

"Hi Luffy! We're playing dodgeball today!" she answered brightly.

"Ooh! Dodgeball!"

This world below made Luffy happy. He didn't have to sit in an big chair and read over things he didn't care about; he could play tag or hide-and-seek with other kids his age and he could laugh and smile and—

"Y'know, there's been this weird guy looking at us for a while..." a little boy with a head full of bright yellow curls whispered to no one in particular. Luffy, who had been hit early in the game and was forced to sit out until a new round had started, paused when he heard the other boy and bent down a little to whisper back. "A weird guy?"

"Uh huh," and the boy raised a finger and pointed towards a shadowed alleyway. Hidden within the darkness and concealing away his presence from the playing children, there was a vague figure of a lean and tall man dressed sharply in a prim black suit. And on his shoulder was a small white pidgeon—

Luffy slapped the other boy's pointing finger down, getting an accusing "OW!" from him, but he didn't let it bother him. Better he suffer a sore hand than find himself on the wrong side of Rob Lucci. "... how'd you notice him?" Lucci was a professional killer. If he didn't want to be seen, he won't be seen.

"I accidentally bumped into him earlier when I was dodging a ball. I said sorry, but I don't think he heard. Do ya' think he has ear problems?"

No. Definitely not. Luffy kept his mouth shut and looked over where the other kids continued to play. There were only a few kids left in the game. It would probably last another two or three minutes at most. He looked back at the other boy and raised a finger to his lips, "Don't tell the other guys about the weirdo. Let's keep this a secret, okay? It'll be cool!"

The idea of having his own secret seemed to tickle the boy as he burst into a grin and hurriedly whispered back, "Yeah! Yeah! A secret between us! Cool!"

Satisfied with this answer, Luffy nodded. He looked back at the game and saw that there was only one kid left on the Pirates team and he was soon tagged out by a ball that bounced off his leg. Luffy and the other kids around him boo-ed jokingly as the other Marine team kids gathered round to celebrate their victory. While the chatter continued on, Luffy quickly got to his feet and made his way to the leader's side. He smiled up at the boy who looked down at him with a curious grin. "What's up, Luffy?"

"Let's play hide-and-seek next! I don't think the girls wanna play dodgeball anymore," he suggested, pointing to the smaller group of girls who were huddled together with tired faces. One of them was rubbing her bruised arm where she was hit by a particularly hard throw. The leader's expression twisted up in thought before he hummed his agreement, "Yeah 'kay. It's not such a big group today so it'll be okay, I think."

"Whooo!" Luffy cried, jumping up and down in forced excitement. He put on a show of throwing his hands up into the air and bouncing around the leader who ignored him quite well and talked to the other kids.

"Hey guys, let's start a game of hide-and-seek. Hands out."

There was no objection to this and the group gathered around, forming a messy circle. The kids all put their fists out in the open area in the middle and exchanged animated glances before shouting in unison, "Rock! Paper! Scissors!" and they laid down their weapon of choice.

It was lucky round where rock and scissor were the only two out of the three shown and there was no need for multiple retries. Luffy showed off his rock with a bright grin and waited for the remaining group of find a seeker amongst themselves.

"Alright!" the leader yelled, the mini-tournament before the real game coming to an end. "Junior is 'it'! Count to fifty, Junior."

Junior was five years old and the youngest of the bunch. There was no way in hell he could count to fifty without missing few numbers along the way. But that didn't matter as Junior pressed his face against the wall and in a sniffly, uncertain tone began his countdown. "One... Two... Three..."

And the kids scattered.

Luffy waited until everyone else was out of sight, simply staring at Junior's small back before he turned his gaze towards the dark alley.

"Ten... uh, Thirteen..."

The soft coo of a bird sounded then it was followed by the flapping of wings; Luffy gave Hatori a short glance as he flew away, before focusing his attention to the man who soundlessly stepped out of the alley. Lucci tipped his stovepipe hat towards Luffy in mock greeting, a sinister smirk stretched across his lips. Voicelessly, he mouthed, _"Come here_."

"Tw... two-five? Two-six?"

While brushing his fringe off his forehead, Luffy gave the preoccupied Junior one last look before following Lucci back into the shadow of the alley. He had a good idea of what was going to happen next. He just hoped none of the kids were around to see it happen.

Lucci seemed to share that particular sentiment as he took them deep into the village. Enies Lobby wasn't such a big island that there would be a wide enough area for them to duke it out without breaking a few buildings; in fact, no matter how much they walked, Luffy could still hear Junior's echoing voice in the background saying, "Three-two, three-three, three-four..."

"Stop," Luffy ordered, halting in his steps and crossing his arms over his chest. Lucci stopped as instructed and slowly, almost lazily, turned around to face his young boss. Unlike Luffy's stiff posture, Lucci was relaxed with his arms hanging by his sides.

A dark chuckle escaped Lucci and, ignoring Luffy's last order, he took a step forward towards the boy. "Chief. I was... surprised to see you."

"Not as surprised as I was," Luffy replied. Lucci tilted his head to the side, amused at Luffy's blatantly unhappy tone of voice. "You followed me," the young chief said without question. Lucci had no other reason to be hanging around the residential area.

And Lucci knew there would be no fooling him. "Yes."

"You should've minded your own business."

"Ah, but Chief," Lucci interjected calmly, his face never losing that infuriating smirk of his, "You are my business."

"I'm not." Luffy argued, eyes burning with a furious flame. "I'm off duty—I'm not your Chief right now." _Stop calling me that—stop looking at me with those eyes—stop trying to make me feel like I'm one of you—_

Lucci patiently ran a large hand through his dark, wavy hair, his smug expression never wavering. "I see," he said after a beat, "then I suppose you are just a regular boy of this village? Playing with the _other children_?"

There was a underlying threat within his words and the fine hairs on Luffy's arm stood on end and the boy bared his teeth at the man—looking very much like a cornered beast. "_You..._" he started, voice pitching low and unyielding, "_What the hell do you want."_

The way his face lit up like a firework looked as if Lucci had hit jackpot. "I wonder... how far you are willing to go in order to... _protect them_."

There was a tense moment of silence that hung between them as Luffy realized what he had to do, and wordlessly, he began to unfasten the top three buttons on his dress shirt and neatly fold up the long white sleeves up to his elbows. Lucci watched him, nearly shaking with excitement and impatience. Luffy, with a single glance at the normally stoic man's face, could tell what he was thinking: '_Hurry up. Fight me—give me blood...!'_

"One time," Luffy said, kicking off his sandals and stretching his arms behind him. "Just one time, Lucci."

Lucci's smile stretched impossibly wide.

"Four-eight... four-nine... … FIFTY!"

Ready or not. Here I come.

-tobecontinued-

... can five year olds count to fifty? Its been so long since I was five.


End file.
